Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Niles, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE), Niles, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,826 miles (or 6,158 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between RAF Fairford and Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between RAF Fairford and Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.

Facts about Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE):

• Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE) has 2 runways.
• Because of Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport's relatively low elevation of 750 feet, planes can take off or land at Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,157 miles (17,955 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport", another name for NLE is "3TR".
• The closest airport to Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE) is South Bend International Airport (SBN), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) SSW of NLE.